


Revelations at the Gala

by DarkJediQueen



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: M/M, Q is a Holmes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-13 14:07:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12985677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Arriving back at MI6 three days before Christmas with a severely broken collarbone, James is stuck at a loss at what to do with himself over the holiday that he would rather be anywhere but England for. He finds something worth coming home to more than just for the holidays.





	Revelations at the Gala

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Archangell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archangell/gifts).



> **Spoilers** : Up Through Skyfall
> 
>  **Beta** : rivermoon1970

James Bond entered Q-Branch with a scowl on his face. He had no equipment to return, so Q was going to give it to him, despite the fact that it was the gun that Bond had rigged to explode instead of fire that had saved him from a worse injury than a broken collarbone. The broken bone was just on the edge of needing something more than just a sling and pills to fix it. James knew that he was going to be grounded for a while. At least Q made it seem like he was worth something. Q had found him things to do in Q-Branch to help other agents or to work on simple things like helping some of the other members of the branch with their experiments or ideas.

The last time that James had been forced into downtime, he spent two weeks with a set of twins in Q-Branch at a secondary location working on explosives and better ways to hide them. James had gone as security and to help out where needed. The location was normally unsecure when a Q-Branch member was off site. With gun in hand, James had been more than willing to guard them as long as they gave him something to do. James had been more than willing to guard them as long as it gave them something to do.

"Bond," Eve said as she held open the door to Q-Branch . James ignored her and pushed past her into the office. There was only a broken radio that James could return to Q, but as Q had pointed out time and again, a broken radio was cheaper to fix or take parts out of than to make a new one. James had got better at returning tech to the Quartermaster, but it still irked James when Q berated him for something that he couldn't help.

However, Q was not in his office. His desk was clean except for a single folder with James's name on it. James opened it up and saw that it was his completed equipment return form, down to the damage noted on the radio. There was a note on where he needed to sign and where to drop off his radio for repair. James signed the papers and frowned as James realised that he would not get his banter with Q and it was the only thing that he was looking forward to after returning to MI6. He hated being on home soil during the holidays and would rather be on a mission but as his mission had ended early and with a severely broken collarbone, he couldn't just not return to London like he usually would do if the mission ended early and he was in better health.

James left his radio with the minion that he was told to leave it with and stalked out of the branch with a look that sent a few junior agents and even other members of MI6 running. A nurse had helped James dress in his shirt he had pulled from his locker before he had gone to medical to be treated. His suit jacket was draped over his bad shoulder, and his uninjured arm was shoved through the hole. The keys to his car were in the pocket that he could access. Mallory wasn't in his office, so the debrief was set for the next day.

"Ah, 007, there you are," Tanner said.

James stopped because Tanner didn't usually go looking for him. Tanner came from a side office that James hadn't noticed that he was in.

"Bond, I'm getting ready to head to the gala. Moneypenny just left and M went two hours ago to make sure that everything was fine."

James sighed as he remembered why the date of the twenty-second was so prominent in his mind as the day to never be in London for. The annual MI6 gala that was held to show that everything was fine abroad and England was safe. For M and Q it was a night to make sure that they got the funding needed from Home Office to continue to do what they needed to do. For agents like Bond, they were on babysitting duty. James had been able to duck it for seven years.

"I am not going, Tanner. I'm injured."

"That's where you are wrong. You are going, and you are going as a bodyguard just not for M or Q or even myself. Come along, and I'll introduce you to the lovely lady that you will be protecting."

James had to admit that he was intrigued. Tanner seemed out of sorts, and that was rare to happen with Mallory at the helm. Jame followed Tanner up and into the area where Mallory's office was. James stopped when he saw the door open and a young girl who looked to be around seven years old was standing in the doorway with her hands crossed over her chest and her mouth in a pout.

"You said you would be back in ten minutes. It's been thirteen."

James tried not to smile but he couldn't control it as Tanner laughed.

"I'm sorry. Your guard for the evening was not where I had left him, and it took a few extra minutes to go and find him. Amelia, I would like you meet James Bond. Amelia Holmes this is James. He will be your guard for the evening. Your father and uncle have approved the appointment. They do ask that you do not try and break him like you did the last."

"The last one treated me like I was an infant. Will James be driving me to the gala?" Amelia

James wondered what a child was going to be doing at the gala, but he kept that to himself. He would need a new gun and get a holster on before he left. Holmes was a name that was well known within the SIS. Mycroft Holmes was a man to be feared, and James knew that first hand.

"No, James will not be driving. Your father doesn't want you being under his mercies as a driver with a broken arm."

"I've never injured a passenger, and I've had worse injuries," James defended himself.

"Be that as it may, I think that tonight will be better if you do not drive. After the Gala, your job is to get Amelia and her father home in one piece. The same driver will be driving the three of you home. M has told me to tell you that you can come in on Boxing Day to take care of your debrief and whatever you do, do not let Amelia talk you into showing you the gun." Tanner handed over a holster that at first James wanted to grab from him and slap him with it until he realised that it wasn't his standard one but one that he could pull the gun free with his good arm. James hated that it was his dominate gun hand that was injured, but his score with his other hand was just as good it just wasn't quite natural to pull a gun with his uninjured arm.

"I don't want to get gunpowder or oil on my new dress. Papa says that if I keep it clean all night from everything, except for food, I can go shopping tomorrow and pick out three new games."

"Yes, well after last year and you showing the guards how quick you can take apart a gun and getting your dress coated in oil, I am not shocked."

James was intrigued as he stripped off his jacket. Tanner helped him get his sling off and get the holster on before getting the sling back on. James realised that the holster was a one of a kind meant to tuck the gun into a place where it didn't bother him with his sling on. He realised that whoever had made it knew how he was with a sling, knew how James wore it and how he liked to stand because just like a regular shoulder holster, James forgot that it was there. James looked at the stitching on the leather and saw that it was from Q-Branch. There was a woman in there that Q had snapped up from a leatherworker to make sheaths and holsters for agents. James recognised her work, but that did not mean that she had been the mastermind behind it.

Tanner escorted James and Amelia down to where a car was waiting on them. James realised that it was one of the better bulletproof ones that were made for the Queen by Q-Branch. Amelia's father wasn’t playing any games. James nodded at the driver and learned his face and the way that he moved as the man came around to open the door for them. James let Amelia get into the back seat of the car first before he did, after looking inside to make sure that no one was waiting for them.

There was a bottle of what looking like sparkling juice in the ice bucket meant for champagne. James picked it up and saw that it was indeed juice.

"Is this for you?"

"For us. Papa said that normally you would drink the good stuff but would deign to drink this if I was drinking it and because you are working."

"Who is your Papa?" James didn't like someone he didn't know telling their daughter all about him.

"You will see when we get to the gala. Papa and Uncle My will be there to keep me entertained when I escape from you and before you find me again."

"Is that a challenge, Little One?" James asked because there was no way that this waif of a child was going to get away from him. "No one has ever escaped from me when I am guarding them."

"They all say that, but I always get away."

James popped the cork on the juice and poured some into the glass before handing it over to Amelia. James never cared either way for children. He did not have any, and he had no nieces or nephews, so he had little contact with them. James did well at talking to them on missions, and he could make himself think that this was a mission. Protect the child from everything, but he had a feeling that it was the way that she had been treated before. James looked at the girl and saw that he really couldn't place her to anyone within MI6. He could see some of Mycroft Holmes in her and a little of that younger brother of his, Sherlock. There was too much of someone else in her as well, and James assumed that it was whoever her mother was. James wondered if the mother was who worked for MI6 and James had just never had dealings enough with her to place the face.

Amelia was thin, but many children were in James's eyes. It just meant that she was active, which James understood was good for children her age. Her fingers were long like a pianist. Her hair was curled up like that child actress that James could never remember the name of except that he knew her drink. Her hair was almost white it was so blond, and James knew of no one within MI6 with hair like that. James would have to wait and see who was at the gala before figuring out the identity of her mother and father.

The hall where the gala was held was not that far from MI6, but with a secure entrance and exit, the trip took a long time, and much of it was spent with the car idling while they waited their turn. The windows were rolled down and the trunk and under the car checked. James was glad that security was just as high as it needed to be to protect those that were there. If one wanted to take out MI6, it would be best to do it at the gala. It was why if a Double-O was in town, they were tasked with working the celebration.

"How many times have you been the gala?" James asked.

"This is my second one. Uncle My brought me last year as a way to cheer me up after Uncle Lock was mean to me. Papa was not happy, but it was fun. I asked to go this year, and he made me promise to be on my best Amelia behaviour."

"You have other best behaviours?" James asked. Whoever the father was, it wasn't Sherlock Holmes. James had never heard even a whisper of a third Holmes brother. Unless they were lying to her and the man who she called her father wasn't actually her biological father, but one of the Holmes' was and the mystery father was a better father than Mycroft or Sherlock.

"Yes. I have my best school behaviour which is my best behaviour that I have. I have my chemistry, my Uncle Lock, I even have an Uncle My behaviour, but Papa doesn’t like that one because I am a pompous arse just like Uncle My."

"Language," James said because he felt like he should. He had no idea what the mystery father was teaching her as far as language went.

"I can say arse. It's the only word that Papa allows me to say. You can ask him if you can find him."

"What do you like to eat?"

"Uncle My said that there were going to be crab puffs at the gala. I am looking forward to those. None of the things with that weird grey paste on them please."

"Am I supposed to get your food for you?" James had been told to protect her. He had no clue what kind of threat she was under. If he had to try her food he would, he had done it before. James had got a lot better at recognising poisons and ingredients that were used as poisons after his adventure at Casino Royale.

"No, but most of the time the waiters who take the food around do not stop at me or lower the trays so that I can get the food. I am a precocious child as my Papa tells me and I get into trouble. It's no different than when he was a boy, but he had Uncles My and Lock to look after him, and I have no one."

"Why is your mother not watching you at the party?" James almost regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Amelia glared at him before she turned her head away. She drained the sparkling juice in her glass and set it down carefully back in the spot that it had come from.

"Mother left father before I was born and left me at the hospital and called Uncle My to tell him that I had been born and where to pick me up."

James had done some cold-hearted things to people over the years, but that was something in a whole other league compared to what he did.

"I'm sorry that I asked."

"It's fine. I overheard Papa, Uncle My, and Uncle Lock discussing it once. Uncle My wanted to tell me nothing and tell me that I had been conceived with a surrogate who wanted nothing to do with children. Uncle Lock wanted to tell me that she had died and Papa wanted to tell me the truth. The next night I asked, I was three and two days, and Papa told me the truth. Uncle My and Uncle Lock didn't talk to him for months. Auntie Anthea was the one to come and get me to take me to see them. Then Papa put his foot down that I was his child and they would not dictate how he told me the truth of my life. He didn't expect me to hear that."

"It sounds like your best Amelia behaviour is not the best."

"I have big ears and a curious mind."

"Curiosity killed the cat," James said as the door to their car was opened. James got out first and looked around. Unlike movie premieres , there were no paparazzi to take pictures, and everyone was let out underground. James wondered if Amelia wanted to take a lift up to the gala on the top floor or walk it. James held his hand out to pull her up, and he looked at her shoes as he did. James was glad that she was in flats. A child her age did not need to be in high heels or even wedges.

James didn't know what to do as far as holding her hand. She solved that by laying her hand on his arm even though it meant stretching it up. James covered her hand with his, and they started inside. James saw that most of the other Double-O's were on some other form of duty.

Amelia led James right up to the elevator and James didn't allow anyone else onto it before the doors shut. 009 was standing by the other guards who were watching those who got out of cars and James swore that the man was wearing a shit-eating grin. James frowned at it before looking down at Amelia. James was tempted to ask Alec when he got up to the top floor, who the father of little Amelia was but James would rather see for himself.

"You are 007 right?" Amelia asked.

James almost opened his mouth and lied, but if she knew the numbers, she probably knew what they meant. "Yes."

"Good. 001 was the one that I didn't like. He treated me like an infant, so I made sure that every time he thinks about me, he cries."

James snorted as the doors opened.

"Miss Holmes, welcome," Alec said with a grin on his face.

"Alec. Looky, I got James!" Amelia was all smiles.

"I see that. He'll do better than Gregory." Alec shook James's good hand with a bigger grin on his face. He leaned in close as James started to pass him. "Don't take your eyes off of her."

"I won't. I'll just treat like if I were babysitting you."

Alec laughed, almost guffaw likes noise came from his mouth. James grinned at him before starting to walk toward where he could see a man with a tray. James stopped in front of the man and looked at what was on there. It was a tray of salmon puffs and something that what looked like shaved parma ham and taleggio cheese on crackers. James took the entire tray from the man before walking away. Amelia gave a little squeal and followed, her hand falling from James's arm. James found them a spot that had two chairs between two suits of armour that were decked with bells and garland. James laid the tray on his lap.

"Amelia," Moneypenny said as she carried over three glasses. James saw that one was pink while the other two were a pale golden yellow. The pink one was picked by Amelia and Moneypenny handed over another glass to James. "Welcome. There are a few that are not drinking tonight, so if you see pink, you can drink it. There will be a glass of it on every tray that comes out."

"Thank you, Miss Moneypenny," Amelia said.

Moneypenny gave a slightly pained smile that told James that she wanted to be called something else by the girl.

"Mister Bill told me that already," Amelia said after she took a drink of her sparkling juice. Moneypenny nodded and stepped away.

"So I am James. Tanner is Mister Bill, but she is Miss Moneypenny. Why?"

"She doesn't like Papa that much. I don't know why and neither does Papa. She used to be friendly with him. They would go out to eat, and she would come over for movie night with us. Then she stopped everything."

"She is busy."

"She is mean." Amelia raised her head and looked away from James, and he knew that she was done with the conversation. Moneypenny got along with everyone within MI6 that he had ever seen her interact with.

"So where is your Papa?"

Amelia turned her head back to James and stared at him. She looked like she was assessing him. James knew that look, and he turned his head to look around the room until he spotted Q standing beside the PM and Mallory. James thought about the fact that he had worked with Q for over two years post the death of M and he had never even guessed that he had a daughter. Or that he was a Holmes. Mycroft had his clutches in MI5, and now it seemed his younger brother, a brother that James never even knew existed, had a good hold on MI6.

"There he is," Amelia said pointing where James knew Q to be. James could understand Q telling her the truth of what happened with her mother. James swallowed as he thought about the fact that it seemed that while Q berated James for not returning a single bit of tech and told him that he wouldn't trust him to cat sit his precious cats, Q trusted him with Amelia. James grabbed a puff and popped it into his mouth. He chewed before draining his glass. A passing waiter took it from him and offered the tray with more. There was a glass of pink on it, and James chose that one.

"Thank you," James said raising the glass in a toasting wave. The waiter nodded and moved on. James reached down for another puff but found that Amelia had already eaten over half of them and a few of the crackers. James switched to the crackers and started to eat them. There was not a formal meal at the gala, but instead, just hors d'oeuvre all night long and plenty of alcohol.

Amelia was silent as she sipped at her drink and ate the puffs, watching everyone move around them. James thought about how he had never seen Moneypenny and Q talking other than when he caught Q going in and out of Mallory's office. James wondered at that because Q was downright lovely to everyone but the Double-O's. The Double-O's he treated like rowdy children. It was nice actually because a lot of it came from the fact that Q did hate to see them injured.

With Amelia content to sit beside James as long as the food held out, James was allowed to watch the Quartermaster as he talked. James saw the man look at James and Amelia several times but not as much as James would have thought. Either he trusted that James would keep her safe or he had another way of watching them. Two glasses of juice later and the tray was empty of food. James handed it and their two empty glasses off before he held his hand out to Amelia.

"Want to dance?" James asked.

"Yes, please." Amelia jumped out of her seat and took James's hand before dragging him to the dance floor. Moneypenny was dancing with someone that James was sure worked for the Home Office.

Amelia curtsied to James as he bowed, and then she took his free hand, and they started to dance. It was hard for James to adapt to dancing with one of his hands bound to his body but he adjusted well. Amelia danced even better than James thought that she would for her age, probably having been taught since she could walk. She was all limbs like her father, but she danced with a grace that few had.

James needed a break after a little while and Tanner came over to dance with her, allowing James to slip into the restroom and wash up before heading out. When he came back out, Amelia was not on the dance floor. Instead, she and Tanner were back at the chairs. Amelia had another tray of food in her lap and was laughing while talking to Tanner. James snagged two glasses of juice for them before he started over to where she was.

"Mister Bill said that soon the hors d'oeuvres are going to stop and it's going to be dessert, and I need more dinner before I add on more sweets."

"More sweets?" James asked.

Amelia raised up her glass of juice. James nodded and started to look around again. Tanner stood up from James's seat, but James didn't sit down. Instead, he watched the dancers. There were plenty still dancing, but most of the people were talking. James watched as Q made his way around the room, edging closer and closer to Amelia each time. Amelia's face lit up when she saw that Q was heading toward them, with a waiter following behind with a tray of sweets. James waved Q to the chair, and the waiter handed James the plate. Instead of a single sweet on it, it had three of each kind for twenty-one in total.

"I had to bribe the caterer to get this," Q said.

"You look tired, Papa."

"I've not had a lot of sleep the past week, 'Melia." Q leaned his head back in the chair and James would have sworn that he was going to fall asleep.

"You said last year that I could try the funny stuff."

"Yes, yes." Q didn't raise his head up, but he did hand over his glass of champagne. James saw that it was still cold, a little bit of condensation was dripping down. Q's head turned to the side to watch as Amelia took a sip of the champagne. She crinkled her nose and handed it back. She drank all of the juice left in her glass.

"I'll stick with my stuff." Amelia looked at the tray that James still had up to where she couldn't reach it. He lowered it down to where she could reach it. She took only a single sweet from the tray before she sat back. "When can we go?"

"I can't go for a little while yet, and since M is insisting that Bond escort the both of us home, you can't go until I leave. I would say another hour."

James looked at his watch and saw that it was a lot later than he thought it was. He was shocked that Amelia wasn't crabby. The few children that James had contact with that were not scared for their lives, would get upset at being up late and not being able to go to sleep.

"Then after dessert, I want to dance again. James, will you dance with me again?"

"Yes." James looked at Q and offered him the tray. Q took the dish from his hands and laid it in his lap. Amelia stood up and pulled on James's good arm until he sat down. She slipped into James's lap with ease and a smile on her face. She stayed away from the injured arm and reached over to grab two sweets, one for herself and the other she handed to James.

"Thank you, Bond. I know that you avoid these but she begged to come and after last year, I couldn't say no."

"What happened last year?"

"Our flat was broken into by someone. We were not sure if it was work related or not so Mycroft brought her along. She was safest here where I could watch her, and she wasn't stuck inside of Six with no one around that she knew. I could not get out of going even though M did allow me to slip out early. Especially after Amelia decided to play hide and seek with the Double-O's and was winning."

"It's not my fault they don't use their entire brain when playing a children's game." James laughed and tipped her back to lean against him. He reached out and snagged their next dessert. Q grabbed his as well, and that was the way it went for the rest of the desserts. Amelia was a weight on him when James handed over the last one to her. She felt like dead weight, and James would have sworn she was asleep, but she took the sweet.

Q was called away just as Amelia was almost asleep on James. She woke up, feeling her father move away from her. James pulled her back to his chest, and she went only slightly unwillingly. James watched Q walk around, his eyes on James and Amelia more than at any other point in the night. There was little to do but watch, and Q was the most exciting individual at the gala.

James watched Q talk to every single person who was of any importance at the event even though many he had spoken to at least once already. At one point, James watched Mallory look around and spot Q, making a beeline for him. It had been an hour, and James wondered what would happen if James went over and told Q that Amelia needed to go home. However just as James was getting the clinging limpet that was Amelia shifted to where he could stand up and not have her bump James's bad arm, Mallory leaned into Q's body, whispering something. Q nodded and said something to the person that he had been talking to. Q turned and nodded toward the door. James stood up and kept Amelia close to his body. She was half awake and wrapped her legs around James carefully before wrapping her arms around James's neck, holding them high enough to not bother his collarbone.

Q took Amelia from James, and she curled into his body, clinging to him like she had James. James waved Q through the doorway first.

"Wait," Amelia called out, sounding like she was barely awake. Q stopped and looked at her. She raised her hand and pointed up. James looked up to see mistletoe above the door. Q glared at Amelia.

"Can't disappoint the mini boffin can we?" James asked.

"I will taser you, Bond, if your hands touch below my neck."

Q didn't say no though so James leaned in and gave the Quartermaster a quick peck on the lips. Amelia huffed.

"That's not a kiss. Uncle My kisses me like that."

James laughed, and he looked into Q's eyes. Q didn't seem upset, and in fact, he looked a little giddy at the thought. James rethought what he had convinced himself months before about Q not being interested in him. Q had yet to flirt back in any method other than perfunctory like he liked the fun of it but wanted nothing more than that. There had been no flirting that was started on Q's side but always in reaction to what James was doing. Q leaned in again, and James kissed him back. His hand was going up to the boffin's neck and keeping him right there. James could feel Q's heart rate pick up and he grinned to himself because that was not the reaction of a man who wanted nothing to do with James.

"Is that better?" Q asked when he pulled back even though James didn't want him to.

"Yes," Amelia's eyes were closed, but she was smiling.

James brushed a kiss to her forehead where it was tucked near her father's neck. James turned to look back at the people in the gala but stopped when he saw that Tanner was collecting money from people. He wasn't shocked that there were bets about them. The rest of the Double-O's knew of James want of the Quartermaster and had relented their own want of him for James getting there first as it were. However to have Tanner win was a slap in the face of all the spies. Q was blushing as Tanner started toward them. James wrapped his good arm around Q to try and get him to leave before the man caught up with them, but Q was steadfast in staying.

"Hullo," Tanner said.

"Hullo," Amelia said back, and without opening her eyes, she held out her hand. Tanner laughed and laid the money down into her hand. "She set you up by the way I think."

"I would no doubt agree with you," Q said.

"Make sure she doesn't spend it in one place."

"She will. She's been saving up for a new gaming system, and I think that this will go on it and the games that she wants. Good night Tanner, have a happy Christmas."

"You too. Amelia, Bond," Tanner said before he turned to leave.

"I think that I'm now a little scared." James looked down at Amelia to see her arm with the money tucked to her chest, and she was fully asleep.

"Don't be. I have the next week off, barring anything going severely tits up but since most of the Double-O's are home right now, I doubt that will happen. I don't have a lot of room, but I do have a pullout couch and plenty of food."

"And if I don't want the pullout?" James asked with a grin on his face.

"I'm afraid that tonight all you would get is snuggles. I'm too worn out from no sleep last night. Between your mission and someone trying to hack the Home Office and none of the staff there could repel it, I need sleep."

"Then I think it's time to get all boffins to bed and we can revisit the discussion of more at a later time. I cuddle well, I'm told." James leaned in and pressed a kiss to Q's cheek.

"I tend to octopus. Whatever is in bed with me is fair game. I have one of those body pillows for when I need to do it, and I'm alone."

"Tonight you'll have me. I'll sleep with my injured side away from you. I have no clothes though, and I don't want to stop at Six."

"I have extra things, and we can go as soon as we wake up to yours to get things. If you want to stay the whole of the holidays with us."

"I would like to get to know you outside of MI6 and Amelia is a wonderful child, and I am sure that we can find enough things to do."

"Especially if she wants to go and get her system tomorrow. She loves playing games with people, and she's tired of challenging me and a few others in the building."

"I look forward to playing with her."

XxXxXxX

James rolled over to his back from his side. There was a twinge that told him that his pain medicine was wearing off. He felt the bed shift and smiled. Q had been right about being an octopus, but he was gentle, even in his sleep, with James and making sure that he didn't hurt his arm. James cursed the broken collarbone because it took many things off the list of what they could do. Nothing sexual had happened between them, and James was okay with that.

Amelia had ended up begging to go out and get her new system. James had even bought her a game for it, the child never knowing. It was wrapped up and under the tree with her name on it, as well as many others that James had found on the list in Q's apartment. The list had been half checked off, so James didn't feel sorry for getting her the rest of the things. He wasn't above buying her affection to make sure that he stayed in her graces. There were several for Q under there from James as well. Those had been harder to get, but while they had been shopping in the chaos that was the twenty-third of December, it had not been hard to keep them from the young man. James had seen several under the tree with his name on them. There were even several for Q's cats that slept in bed with Amelia, which James was happy for.

"James, you are thinking too hard for Christmas morning," Q whispered.

James turned his head to look and saw that Q was looking at him. James was in just his pants while Q had on sleep trousers. It was a pair with kittens all over them and had been a gift from Amelia to Q the night before. Amelia even had a pair for James, but James didn't sleep in anything but pants when he was home if he slept in anything. Beyond Q the bedroom door was shut, unlike it had been when James had gone to bed the night before. James kind of remembered Q getting up in the night and going to the bathroom.

"Just thinking is all," James said in answer to Q's statement.

"It's Christmas morning, one should not think beyond breakfast and presents." Q curled closer to James but didn't touch more than placing a kiss on James's shoulder.

"But my stomach isn't rumbling, and I don't feel in the mood to open presents."

Q laughed just like James wanted him to. Q was entirely different at home and even when out and about with Amelia. James was attracted to the Quartermaster side of him, but he could see himself falling in love with Q side of him. James had asked him for his real name and Q had started and told him that he had taken the name of Q long before he became Quartermaster but if James ever wanted to sleep in his bed, he would never call him Quintavius in public. He prefered Q but would allow James to call him Quin.

"Come here, Quin," James murmured. Q sat up in bed and stared at James until James patted his stomach. Q moved to straddle James's waist and stared down at him. James pushed Q back just enough to where his ass was brushing James's cock. Q gasped and steadied himself on James's chest, his legs splaying out just a little more. James grabbed Q's knees helping him steady himself before James trailed those hands up Q's thighs, he wanted to be touching skin but would wait. James stopped just shy of Q's cock and waited. Q bit his lip and James could see his eyes darkening in arousal. Q nodded sharply, and James took it as permission to do as he wanted, he trusted that Q would tell him if he started to go farther than Q wanted.

James pulled down on the top of Q's sleep trousers, realising that he had not put on pants. Q gasped as James reached out and stroked his cock with his injured arm. James watched Q shut his eyes in pleasure. James held down the trousers with his good hand and continued to stroke with his other. Q got lost in the pure pleasure that James was giving him.

"Get naked for me, Quin."

Q stood up, and his hands were shaking as he pushed his trousers down his body. James pushed up to where he was balanced on his heels and his shoulders and used his good arm to get his pants off. James didn't want to make his arm hurt more so he was okay with letting Q do whatever James couldn't. Q didn't get back to James but instead stepped up to the drawer and grabbed something from the drawer. He held up a bottle of lube and shook it at James when James nodded Q dropped it onto his chest. Next was a condom, James used them when he was on missions and seduction was the best method for getting what he needed, but this was different. If he was going to be inside of Q or Q inside of him, he wanted no barrier.

"I'm clean, Q. The vampires in medical tell me that every single mission. Unless you refuse to go without, I'm fine without it."

Q dropped the little packet back down into the drawer before he climbed back onto James. He snapped open the lid on the lube and coated two fingers. Q grinned at him as he reached behind himself.

"You could at least let me see what you are doing, Quin."

"You can find out what I look like with fingers stuffed in my arse when you are the one doing it. Right now you are going to lay there and just try and think of England."

James laughed out loud at the grin that was on his face at Q's cheek. James reached out to play with Q's cock as he fingered himself. James watched Q's face as he was played with, inside and out. Q pulled his finger free and gave James a smile before he wiped his fingers on the bed sheets and grabbed the lube again. This time it was James's cock that was coated. Feeling Q's fingers wrapped around his cock finally had James almost coming right then and there, but he held on.

Q sunk down on James's cock a lot slower than James wanted but there was little that James could do without hurting himself, so he endured it. Just when James thought that Q was done teasing him, he lifted himself back up and started the slow descent again. It was torture, and James loved it.

Finally, bodies pressed as close as they could get, Q shifted and sunk down just a little more as he leaned over James, staring down at him. Instead of sliding up and down, Q was almost rocking back and forth on James's cock, his eyes alight with pleasure and happiness. James stroked his cock gently, never giving him the pleasure that he wanted to chase his orgasm but just enough to make sure that Q was enjoying himself.

The morning sun that crept through the window made Q's skin shimmer with the sweat that was forming there. James could feel himself starting to sweat as well, even though he was just laying there.

"Tuck your legs up," Q panted as he sat up, staring down at James still. James did as the boffin asked and pressed his thighs into Q's back. Q grabbed James's knees, supporting himself on them to raise his body up a little faster than he had been before. James spread his legs a bit more, giving Q a broader base to support himself on.

Watching Q fuck himself on James's cock was a sight to behold, he only cared about chasing his orgasm and making it the best that it could be for James at the same time. It was an incredible dichotomy, and James wanted to see it as much as possible. James had weeks of not being able to do much with his arm and usually, he pushed his body quicker than it needed to get back to normal but for once maybe not pushing to be back in the field was something that James could live with. Especially if it meant seeing this as much as possible.

"James," Q breathed, his rhythm stuttering a little as he came across James's chest, the contractions of the muscles gripping his cock making James come as well. James forced his eyes to stay open because he wanted to see every single second of Q's orgasm being pulled from him. It was the most beautiful sight that James had ever seen.

Q didn't slump down onto James but instead held himself up for several minutes before he finally shifted enough to where James's limp cock fell from him. Q stumbled to the ensuite and cleaned himself before bringing back a flannel to do the same for James. It was tossed toward where the bathroom was, and he slumped down onto the bed, cuddling into James's good side and near falling asleep like that instantly.

"Don't we need to get up for the terror?" James asked with a smile in his voice. Amelia was anything but to James, but it was what Q had called her the night before.

"She was up late playing her game, so I figure that we have an hour. We do need to get dressed. She will just enter the room, door shut or not. So now it's time for your sleep trousers." Q sat up and reached over to grab his trousers, pulling them up while not straying far from James's side.

"I need to slip into the bathroom then I'll put them on, and we can cuddle again until she wakes us up."

James rushed through using the bathroom and taking a pill with a glass of water. He shouldn't take it on an empty stomach, but he didn't want to leave the bedroom and risk waking Amelia up or rousing her from her room if she was already awake. James entered the bedroom again, he saw that Q was curled into the warm spot that James had been in. James debated putting on a shirt, but Q didn't have one on, so Amelia was used to seeing him half naked it seemed. James got into bed behind Q this time, wrapping his bad arm around Q's side and finding a spot that didn't make his shoulder hurt. The other arm he wiggled under Q's pillow and used it to pull the boffin just a little closer. Q pulled the blankets over them, snuggling into the warmth that James was putting off.

"Best Christmas in a long while."

"I'm glad," James said into Q's neck before pressing a kiss there. Happiness was fleeting so James grabbed it where he could and right now, he was happy. He knew that he would heal and be sent on a mission but having someone, someones, to come home to was wonderful. James had always come back to England for England before, but now he had Q and Amelia to come home to. "So does the Holmes family do anything particular for Christmas?"

"Mycroft and I go to Mummy and Da's house for dinner tonight. Sherlock doesn't always go, but Amelia is the best way of making sure that he does. Or Mycroft will tell him that I have a beau and Sherlock will want to go just to tell me how horrible of a human you are."

"So you want me to go?"

"Mycroft and Amelia will be unable to keep their mouths shut, so it's just going to be easier to take you tonight than to have to bring you back at a later date. It's going to be a madhouse. Mummy will try and burn the ham and Mycroft will step in and save it. Da will spend most of the day with Amelia playing with whatever he talks her into opening while none of us is looking. Sherlock will glare at you, and I do hope that he brings John then at least I won't have you, Amelia, and Sherlock to look after."

"I thought you were the younger."

"Yes, well. Why do you think that I do so well at corralling Double-Os? I learned early how to take care of Sherlock. He might be my older brother but he's worse than a Double-O."

"Neither one of them can be happy with your choice of jobs."

"No and Sherlock tries to talk me out of working at MI6, but there is nowhere I'd rather be. Mycroft blames himself. After he started to work for the Government, he had a Double-O watch over Mummy, Da, and I when we went on vacation. Da and the Double-O talked about missions, and I listened from my hiding spot in the sitting room of the hotel we were in. I was under the skirt of the food cart, reading a book. It was the only way to keep Sherlock from me. I listened with rapt attention, and I knew that I wanted to be the one that worked behind the scenes."

"You make the job seem like something that everyone should aspire to." James felt himself drifting off to sleep again, warm and comfortable.

"I always loved computers, and I could do things with them that many adults couldn't understand. I knew that with my skills I had two options, working for myself and possibly getting in trouble or working for Britain. I chose Britain because I can always fake my death and work for myself later." Q's voice trailed off, and James knew that he had talked himself to sleep. James kissed his neck again and let himself slip into sleep as well. It sounded like he was going to need his strength to not kill Sherlock with a spoon later in the day. That would not make for a happy Christmas for any of them.  
**The End**


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